Vinesh Phogat, a top Indian wrestler, has her hopes pinned on Harish Salve, a leading lawyer, to fight her case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Phogat, who made history as the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic final, was disqualified because she was 100 grams overweight before her gold medal match. This disqualification led to her announcing her retirement from wrestling, which was a big disappointment for her fans.

Harish Salve is a highly respected lawyer known for handling many important cases. He has been the Solicitor General of India and has worked on several high-profile cases. Salve defended Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national sentenced to death by Pakistan, and his strong arguments at the International Court of Justice helped save Jadhav’s life. He also represented Ratan Tata in a legal battle against Cyrus Mistry and worked on the famous Aarushi-Hemraj case.

Salve was born in Maharashtra and studied law at Nagpur University. He started as a senior advocate in Delhi in 1992 and was appointed as Solicitor General in 1999. In 2015, he received the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s top civilian awards, and in January last year, he became Queen's Counsel for Wales and England. His notable clients include the Tata Group and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.

Salve has also been involved in other significant cases, such as representing the Hindu side in the Ram temple dispute, which led to the Supreme Court allowing the construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya.